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Here's What to Watch in European Stocks This Morning

(Bloomberg) -- Good morning. Here’s what we are watching ahead of the market open in Europe:

To the Wire

Never let it be said that Brexit can’t be exciting when it wants to be. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and teams of negotiators from both sides were working through the night on Wednesday to iron out disagreements in the text of the exit agreement ahead of a crunch summit on Sunday. Keep a close eye out for leaks of how those talks are going, how close an agreement is and what impact that’ll have on the pound and the U.K. stock market. FTSE 100 futures, incidentally, look pretty flat.

Nissan Decides

The board of Nissan Motor Co. will meet on Thursday to vote on whether to dismiss Carlos Ghosn as more details about his alleged financial misconduct leak out. The motion does not have to be unanimous to pass, but the divisions which have appeared could make it a close run thing, with some on the board suggesting they don’t have enough information about what Ghosn is accused of actually doing. Keep a close eye on Renault SA shares once the verdict is in.

Oil Seesaw

Volatility in the oil price is showing little sign of abating. U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on Wednesday with his unwavering support for lower crude prices and, by proxy, Saudi Arabia. That had little impact on the oil price but the direction of the integrated majors, oil explorers and their network of service providers is going to continue to be dictated by the oversupply fears in the wider market. This morning, the price is dipping back a little after a gain in U.S. inventories and following the president’s demands.

Hold Your Rand

Economists have never been this clearly split on whether South Africa’s central bank is going to raise interest rates at its Thursday meeting. The rand could be stuck in a range in the hours before the afternoon decision, but almost certainly motor one way or the other once the announcement is made. South African domestic stocks will be in focus, but also keep an eye on any European stocks with exposure to the market, including miners, paper firm Mondi Plc and private hospitals group Mediclinic International Plc.

Power Up

Centrica Plc, the owner of former U.K. monopoly British Gas, had a terrible 2017 but the flight to safety amid the recent turmoil has benefited utilities, so this year is not looking anywhere near as bad. Still, the group dropped after its last earnings update thanks to worries about higher wholesale prices and a fall in profit from its consumer business caused by freezing winter weather. Watch for anything on the impact of energy price caps in the U.K. too for read-across to its power supplying competitors.

A Blessed Thanksgiving!

No question market participants in the U.S. will be relishing a chance to get away from the madness and gather around a turkey with families to give thanks. For this column, the main byproduct is that the U.S. will be closed so the potential for a quiet afternoon is unusually high. One note, despite the drop in crude, Americans are paying the most at the pumps for four years, making that car trip to see the family a little more costly than usual.